Chocolate Truffle Cookies

For the record, I’ve never made a heavier cookie than these babies. Heavy as in, I was getting a workout loading up plates of these cookies to give out to neighbors. And heavy is a good, good thing when you are speaking in terms of dense, chocolate, truffley goodness. These cookies are most simply described as a truffle in cookie form and they are absolutely decadent.

A few words of advice, though: do not, whatever you do, serve these gorgeously delicious cookies to a group of five-year old boys. They will a) absolutely not appreciate or respect the high-quality bittersweet chocolate chips you used and b) your kitchen will be smeared from floor to ceiling with powdered sugar.

Uh, I guess along with heavy, these cookies just might be the messiest ones I’ve ever made, too. But I promise you that if you follow my one strict rule about those five-year old boys, you won’t be disappointed!

Note: In the comments of the Baking Bites blog where this recipe was originally featured, several commenters mentioned their cookies had spread quite a bit. I didn’t have a problem with that, but two tips I’d be aware of is first, to make sure your butter isn’t overly soft – a cool room temperature is what you are looking for (you can tell if the butter is just right for creaming if you press your index finger into the butter and it gives just a little but it isn’t easy for you to slide your finger all the way through). Second, chill the batter for 30 minutes if you are working in a warm kitchen or if your batter seems overly soft.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

approximately 1/3 cup cocoa powder (for rolling)

approximately 2/3 cup powdered sugar (for rolling)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and powdered sugar, adding the sugar in slowly so that it doesn’t puff everywhere and transform your kitchen into a white mess. In a fine mesh strainer/sieve, place the cocoa powder and salt and sift this mixture into the butter/sugar and mix until well combined. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, blend in the flour until no streaks of flour remain. Stir in the chocolate chips.

If your kitchen is very warm and the dough is hard to handle, refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes before rolling.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll each ball lightly in the cocoa powder and place on the baking sheet. Do not flatten the cookies. The cookies will not spread very much if the dough is chilled, so they can be placed fairly close together.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. They will just barely be set but you don’t want to overbake or they will be dry. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

When the cookies have reached room temperature, after about 30-45 minutes, roll each cookie in powdered sugar until completely coated. Store in an airtight container.

These look yummy. I know what you mean about the 5 yr. olds. My 25ish year old husband and his friends are equally messy and very much unaware of when I use "specialty" ingredients in my cooking. I'll keep this recipe on hand for the girls.

I made these this evening….just couldn't resist. Oh my! These are one of my new favorite cookies! So, So good. Like fudge in cookie form. Thank you so much for this great recipe! I added 1/4 tsp of espresso granules and used both bittersweet (1/2 cup) chunks and semisweet (1.5 cups) chips. This recipe is a keeper!

I made these today and oh mama! They are so good. So silky and fudgy and chocolaty!I wish you would have a ratings comment section like they do on kitchen network. I would like to know what people think after they make the recipes. I already know that all of your recipes look great! Anyways, just a thought. This one gets 5 stars!

I made these yesterday…so good! Mine turned out a little bit darker on the inside. But they're so much easier to make than I thought they would be!! And the dough is to die for. Keep up all the great recipe posts!

Okay, so I just found your food blog. OH MY! I think I've died and gone to Heaven. Every recipe looks divine! Seriously, maybe I'll make it a goal to make every single recipe you've posted. This week's meal plan? Anything tagged 'desserts'!

Just made these and they are quite amazing. The texture is perfect. The only thing I'm not sure I love about these is the hint of sour from the sour cream. My husband really likes it, but I'm thinking it detracts from the chocolate just a smidgin (not much, as is evidenced by the 3 I've just eaten). I wonder if cream cheese might work for next time. But really, they're awesome. Just a personal taste preference thing.

Splendid Things – oooh, I bet the bittersweet chunks were a wonderful addition – what with being full of chunky chocolatey goodness and all. I'm so glad you liked this cookie – fudge in cookie form is a great description!The Buttars – that would be great if I could add a ratings column…I love those sections on other cooking websites. If I figure out a brilliant way to do it, you better believe I will! I'm glad you liked this cookie!

Becky – I agree, this dough is so good it's lucky I get any cookies baked from it! Thanks for letting me know you liked these cookies.that's what she – welcome! I'm glad you found your way here and I hope you find some great recipes to try…Motion DeSmiths – thanks for your comment! If you weren't a fan of the sour cream, try plain yogurt next. It doesn't have as strong of a flavor (in my opinion) – I'm not sure that cream cheese has the right consistency…but either way, let me know if you try them with a substitution!

Thank you for your wonderful website. These cookies are delicious! I am planning to make them for a baby shower this weekend. Do you have any recommendations for the best way to make them ahead of time (bake & then freeze? freeze the uncooked dough & then bake?)? Thanks again!

Hi Elizabeth – I’m a little worried about the powdered sugar getting mush if they are baked, frozen and then thawed, so I’d probably recommend freezing the dough balls and then baking them, adding a few extra minutes to the baking time (I wouldn’t thaw them before baking). Hope that helps!

Oh my, these are delightful. My husband and daughter both rate them 10 out of 10. The one question I had was about the cocoa powder for rolling. I assume it’s unsweetened. That’s what I used and they turned out great. Thanks for sharing.

Oh. my. heck! These were AMAZING! I ate about half the dough (hooray for no eggs so pregnant ladies can eat it!) If I hadn’t already made others of your recipes, we’d be best friends just because of these cookies!

Mel – I LOVE this recipe (made it for a social with my co-workers back in the spring) and I almost went crazy trying to find the recipe on your site! I couldn’t remember what they were called & realized that they’re not listed under your cookie index! WHEW! I’m so glad I remembered that I had seen it in the spring so I could scour the archives! I would be sad to lose this recipe!!

These cookies were beyond..and I mean beyond, outstanding. I pick a different cookie and muffin off your website almost every weekend. To date, 6 muffin recipes and 10 cookie recipes and ALL received rave rave reviews. Thank you so much for making me look good…you are A.W.E.S.O.M.E!!

Wow! These are very delicious. I made them for a fun Valentine’s Day gift for teachers and neighbors. What a big hit! Everyone LOVED them. After baking, I put them in Valentine’s themed mini muffin papers for serving. They looked and tasted wonderful! I am planning to make them for my daughter’s wedding reception this spring.